I BELIEVE: The world needs more multi-perspective learners

Mar. 15, 2012

Kevin Ly believes solutions to the environmental problems we face today are not going to be solved by any one biologist, engineer, or even politician, but by people working together to understand the problem and compromise for the benefit of our shared earth. / Courtesy of New Jersey Institute of Technology

Written by

Kevin Ly

IF YOU GO

TEDxNJIT Sustainability will be from 5 to 9 p.m. March 23 at New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. The event aims to educate and motivate the audience on how companies and businesses, especially in the Newark area, are making changes to become more environmentally conscious in their business decisions. A complete list of speakers and registration information can be found at www.tedxnjit.com.

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A little more than a year ago, I started college as a biology major at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. I set my sights on medical school because I grew up wanting the best for other people. For about a year, I’ve been working on a glucose monitor that would be able to measure the amount of glucose in a person’s body without using blood. But becoming a doctor is only the beginning.

I believe that the future is not about people who are really good at doing one thing, but instead good at doing a lot of things. Innovative solutions require research, design, development and proper marketing to become successful. None of the technology we have today was created by one person.

Engineers don’t think like doctors and doctors don’t think like lawyers, but when everyone can incorporate multiple perspectives, working together becomes more effective and efficient.

This is why I’ve been working on organizing events such as TEDxNJIT Sustainability, which will take place on March 23.

You might have heard about TED by seeing some of the popular 15-minute TED videos on Youtube. TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. The TED world is all about sharing ideas. People attend because they want to open their minds and expand their horizons.

Since then its scope has become ever broader. TEDx (the “x” is for independently organized) was created in the spirit of TED's mission. TEDx gives communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level.

People ask me all the time, “What made you want to organize TEDxNJIT?” The answer is simple. I want to help educate people because it will help them learn how others think and how to work together. I envision a world where people can build smarter buildings that take the local eco-system into account or develop technology that minimizes its impact on human health and so on. I believe this kind of interaction, between multiple disciplines, is truly the only way we can learn to move forward.

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My first TEDxNJIT event was themed Invention to Venture, which brought together entrepreneurs from around the state to present talks about their startups and unique ways to overcome struggles. Although owning a company isn’t part of my current career goals, I will still bring several of these lessons with me into the medical field because I can be much more successful as a doctor when I will be able to deal with the diversity of my patients.

I want to strive to help the environment, as well. In ways, improving society’s unhealthy environmental habits is much like diagnosing and prescribing medication to a patient. There needs to be education, planning, and execution.

Our solutions to the environmental problems we face today are not going to be solved by biologists, engineers, or even politicians. They all have to work together to understand the problem and compromise for the benefit of our shared earth. TEDxNJIT Sustainability features speakers who will present talks about environmental awareness and sustainability from the perspective of government, industry, and small businesses.

I believe that we, as a society, need to work together, share ideas, and use the perspective of multiple disciplines in order to invent, innovate and implement solutions to the world’s challenges.